Hair curling and drying apparatus with magnetic coupling



C. A. EDMAN ETAL Aug. 9, 1966 HAIR CURLING AND DRYING APPARATUS WITHMAGNETIC COUPLING Filed Sept. 19, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS CARL AEDIVVQN 9, 1966 c. A. EDMAN ETAL 3,265,075

HAIR CURLING AND DRYING APPARATUS WITH MAGNETIC COUPLING 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Sept. 19. 1963- INVENTORS CARL A. DMAN THEIR ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent HAIR CURLING AND DRYING APPARATUS WITH MAGNETIC COUPLINGCarl A. Edman, Fairfield, and Peter Kranz, Darien, Conn.,

assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York FiledSept. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 310,035

Claims. (Cl. 132-9) In an application entitled Hair Curling Apparatus,by Edgar A. Phaneuf, assigned to the General Electric Company, and filedconcurrently with the instant application, there is described animproved arrangement for quickly forming and drying one or more curls ofhair. One form of the apparatus includes a hair dryer having a flexiblehose, an apertured hair curler, and means for connecting the curler tothe end of the hair dryer hose. With such an arrangement, the user windsa moist lock of hair around the curler, secures the curler in somesuitable fashion, and then couples the hair dryer hose to an opening inthe curler. After a short interval, the curl of hair will drysufficiently so that the hair dryer hose may be withdrawn and the curlerremoved from the formed curl.

It should be noted that in such an operation that the connection betweenthe curler and the hair dryer hose is normally made and broken duringthe formation of each curl; thus, it will be realized that it is highlydesirable that the coupling means be simple and reliable. This isparticularly important when the person operating the equipment is alsothe person receiving the curl, which is the typical case. Naturally itis necessary for such individual to raise both hands up to the head andmake such connection without direct vision. Although a mirror is helpfulin this respect, it is desirable that the curling apparatus be easy tooperate with or without the benefit of a mirror. A simple couplingmeans'is particularly important when forming curls at the rear of thehead, where a mirror is of limited assistance and which is an unusuallyawkward position.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea hair curling apparatus including an improved simplified arrangementfor connecting and disconnecting a hair curler and a source of heatedair, such as a hair dryer hose.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcoupling means which, while being convenient to connect and disconnect,will not be easily inadvertently disconnected.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rugged hair curlerand hair dryer base coupling which is reliable and easy to operate evenwhen the users hands are in an awkard position.

Briefly stated, the hair curling apparatus of the invention includes ahair curler having a substantially tubular construction with anapertured tubular side wall, adapted to have hair wound thereon. A hairdryer furnishes a source of forced heated air, and an inter-connectingmember is provided to connect the hair dryer to an opening in the haircurler so that heated air may be fed into the interior of the curler.Magnetic means are provided for releasably joining the interconnectingmember and the hair curler. In addition to furnishing a sufficientlystrong coupling which is yet easily disconnected when desired, themagnetic means facilitates the connecting operation in that theinterconnecting member is drawn into coupling position when placed inclose proximity to the opening in the curler.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be morefully set forth in the following specification and claims, considered inconnection with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sketch of the hair curling appartus of the invention whilein use;

Patented August 9, 1966 ice FIG. 2 is a side elevational view partly insection of the curler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the curler of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the holder assembly of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a clamp to be used with the curler ofFIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and first, particularly to FIG. 1, thehair curling apparatus of the invention is shown in operation on a humanhead represented by the numeral 10. The apparatus includes a tubularhair curler 12 having a lock of hair wound into a curl 14 on its outerperiphery. To facilitate winding of the hair onto the hair curler 12there is provided a cylindrically shaped brush 16 inserted within thecurler. As can be seen the brush bristles extend through the elongatedslots 18 formed in the tubular side wall of the curler. Thisconstruction may be more clearly seen in FIG. 2.

The curler 12 is shown connected at its open end to a tubular member 20which is connected at its opposite end to a flexible hair dryer hose 22.The hose is in turn provided with suitable means for being connected toa hair dryer power unit 24 which furnishes a source of forced heatedair. While the air may be provided from any suitable source one of thewell known personal, portable hair dryers is particularly suited forsuch use. In this regard, it might be mentioned that although the curlerdescribed 'herein may be utilized to form as many curls as desired, itis contemplated that the curler will primarily be used as a touch-updevice for forming or reforming one or two curls during each use, andthat the curler will be sold as an accessory to a conventional hairdryer and flexible bonnet combination.

The tubular interconnecting member 20 provides a convenient means bywhich to hold the curler 12 and the hose 22 during operation. As seen inFIG. 1, the size of the holder 20 is such as to be easily held in thehand 26 of the user. In accordance with the invention, the downstream oroutlet end of the holder 20 is adapted to couple with the upstream endof the curler 12 in a unique manner as will be subsequently described.

In operation, the user Winds a lock of hair around the curler 12, whichis separated from the holder 20. After the curl is completely Wound, itmay be held in place by any suitable means such as the aperturedflexible clamp 17 which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 5. It shouldbe understood that the clamp may be opened sufficiently to fit over thecurl, and when released will tend to assume its original position andthereby hold the curl on the curler.

While holding the curler 12 in one hand, the user then brings holder 20,connected to hose 22, up to the open end of the curler and connects theholder to the curler. It will be understood that the heated air from thehair dryer 24 is thus ducted to the curler and passes through theapertures or slots 18 in and around the curl of hair 14 to therebyrapidly dry the curl. After the curl is sufficient-ly dried, the holder20 is separated from the curler, and the curl may be subsequentlyremoved from the curler when desired.

In view of the repeated connecting and disconnecting of the holder 20and the curler 12, it can be readily appreciated that it is desirablethat the coupling means employed be very convenient and reliable tooperate. This is particularly true when the user is curling her own hairbecause of the inconvenient and awkward position in which the connectionis to be rnade. In accordance with the invention, there is provided animproved coupling arrangement including a magnetic means to facilitatesuch connections and disconnections and mechanical means to preventinadvertent disconnection of the coupling.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a washer or keeper 28 made ofmagnetically attracted material such as iron or steel connected to theupstream end of the curler. In the arrangement shown, the washer isformed with four equally spaced radially extending nibs 30. When thewasher is concentrically positioned on the open end of the curler, eachof the nibs 30 is received in a mating recess 31 formed in the end ofthe curler. The curler is further formed with four equally spacedinternal ribs, two of which are shown at 33, extending radiallyinwardly. The ribs 33, which are angularly aligned with the nibs 30,assist in supporting the washer on the end of the curler. A plurality ofprojections 32 are located on the end of the curler with two projectionsbeing positioned adjacent each. of the recesses 31 and nibs 30. Thewasher 28 may be retained in position by deforming the projections 32over the nibs 30. The curler is preferably molded from a suitableplastic material; and in such event, the project-ions 32 can be deformedby heat to retain the washer in position. Naturally, the washer 28 maybe secured to the curler by other suitable means if desired. Inperforming the heat deforming operation, care should be taken not todistort the outside diameter of the curler or deposit any plasticmaterial on the face of the washer. Also, it might be well to note thatprior to securing the washer to the curler, the brush 16 is preferablyinserted into position within the curler in that the smaller innerdiameter of the washer makes insertion more d-ifficult after the washeris in place.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the other half of the magnetic coupling may beseen as a washer shaped magnet 34 concentrically positioned within theinterior wall of the holder 20 slightly spaced from its downstream end.The annular section 36 of the interior wall of the holder 20 is adaptedto receive the magnet and end wall 36a limits axial movement of themagnet in the downstream direction. To arcuately position the magnet 34within the holder 20, the magnet is formed with four equally spacedaxially extending grooves, one of which is most clearly seen at 35. Theannular section 36 is formed with four axially extending ribs 37 eachadapted to fit within a respective one of the grooves 35. In assembly,the magnet 34 may be inserted within the upstream end of the holder 20and its grooves 35 are aligned with the ribs 37 to fit within theannular section 36. The magnet is retained in this position by means ofa plurality of projections 40 formed by heat deforming the upstream endsof the ribs 37.

From the foregoing description, it is readily apparent that to make theconnection between the holder and the curler, the downstream end of theholder is merely moved onto the upstream end of the curler until theannular end face of washer 28 is magnetically attracted to the annularend face of magnet 34. To minimize inadvertent disconnect-ion of thecoupling, a magnet may be employed which requires a considerable forceto pull the components apart. The attraction between magnet 34 andwasher 28 is basically along lines parallel to the curler longitudinalaxis. As an aid to separating the handle from the curler, there isprovided an outwardly extending peripheral flange 19 formed on thecurler adjacent the tapered section 46. When in operation, the flange ispositioned adjacent the end of the handle 20, as seen in FIG. 1. Toseparate the components, the user may push against the flange with thethumb of the hand while pulling on the curler and handle.

Since, as pointed out, the magnetic attraction between. the washer 28and the magnet 34 provides primarily an axial force, such a magneticcoupling could be broken by a cocking or tilting force, that is, a forceabout an axis in the plane of the interface between washer 28 and magnet34. Due to the leverage involved, such a force can fairly easily bedeveloped by holding the handle 20 in the hand and pressing or strikinga side of the curler near the downstream end against an object. Toprevent such disconnections of the coupling, the upstream end of thecurler and the downstream end of the handle have been given a uniquetelescopic relation to provide a mechanical interference.

More specifically, the upper end of the curler fits loosely within theend of the handle in a manner such that while there is no frictional fitbetween the two components when the face of washer 28 remains completelyin contact with the face of magnet 34, the downstream edge of handle 20engages the internal side wall of the curler end and the outer side wallof the handle end engages the inner upstream edge of the curler when theaforementioned tilting or cock ing force is applied. More significantly,this interference occurs while the magnetic attraction between washer 28and magnet 34 is still relatively great, and hence, the washer 28 andmagnet 34 will snap back into complete contact when the cocking force isterminated (unless, of course, an axial separating force is introduced).Thus it can be seen that separation of the magnetic coupling isprevented except by forces on the coupling substantially parallel to butopposite from the magnetic attraction lines of force.

Since the components do not require a close fit, the tolerances involvedmay be quite liberal thus minimizing manufacturing costs. The uniquecoupling of the invention is also very satisfactory for the user in thatit avoids sticking problems which might exist with arrangementsinvolving frictional fits.

The telescopic relation is also advantageous in that it limitstransverse sliding between washer 28 and magnet 34 and it facilitatesthe insertion of the end of the curler into the handle. T apering theends of the components further simplifies this operation, and alsoallows more liberal tolerances. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the innerwall of the downstream end of the holder has a slightly divergent tapertowards the outlet with a marked diameter change separating two sections42 and 43. To accommodate the tapered inner wall sections 42 and 43, theoutside surface on the end of curler 12 is also formed with two sections44 and 46 of different diameters and which have a slight convergingtaper toward the adjacent curler end. The diameter dimensions ofsections 42, 43, 44 and 46 are such that when washer 28 engages magnet34, there is normally little or no contact between the inner walls ofthe holder and the outer walls of the curler. It should be noted thatthe axial length of section 43 is less than that of section 44, andsection 42 is greater than that of 46. Hence, when a transverse force isapplied to either component, the surface contact between the componentsis minimized.

Another advantage of the coupling arrangement of the invention shown isthat it complements the remaining structural aspects of the components.That is, it is quite desirable to utilize plastic or similar materialfor both the curler and the holder because it is light in weight, easilywashable, rugged, durable, and a good heat insulator. The material canalso be inexpensively fabricated into the finished product by means of amolding operation if the component is properly designed. In the presentinstance, both the curler and the holder are slightly tapered andprovided with no unusual grooves or other irregularities so that theymay be easily molded in single operations. The shapes required for theportions of these components involved in the coupling of the inventiondo not interfere with this single molding operation.

It should be understood that various embodiments of the presentinvention, in addition to what has been illustrated and described indetail, may be employed without departing from the scope of theaccompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Hair curling apparatus comprising a hair curler member havingsubstantially tubular construction with one end open and said curlerhaving a perforated side surface adapted to have hair wound thereon, arigid tubular member to be hand held by the user during the curl dryingoperation, means formed on the upstream end of said member forconnecting the member to a source of drying air, and means formed on thedownstream end of said member and the open end of said curler forreleasably attaching the curler to the member including a magnet andmagnetically attracted means to provide an attractive force between saidmember and said curler, said open end of said curler being adapted totelescope with the downstream end of said member to preventdisconnection of said curler and said member by a cocking or tiltingforce, said magnet and said magnetically attracted means being entirelydisposed Within and spaced from both ends of one of said membersincluding said curler member and said rigid tubular member when saidcurler is telescoped with the downstream end of said tubular member.

2. Hair curling apparatus comprising a hair curler having substantiallytubular construction with one end open, said curler having a perforatedsurface between its ends adapted to have hair wound thereon, a rigidtubular handle to be held by the user during the curl drying operation,means formed on one end of said handle for connecting the handle to anair delivery hose, a permanent magnet supported within the downstreamend of said handle and slightly spaced from the downstream end of saidcurler and enclosed by said handle for releasably attaching the curlerto the handle, the open end of said curler being adapted to fit withinthe downstream end of said handle, and magnetically attracted meansmounted on the open end of said curler and enclosed by said handle whensaid handle is attached to said curler to cooperate with said magnet inholding the curler to the handle.

3. In a hair curling apparatus: a curler member having a substantiallytubular construction with one end open and the other end substantiallyclosed; said curler having a perforated side surface between its endsadapted to have hair wound thereon; a rigid tubular handle member to beheld by the user during a hair curling operation; means formed on oneend of said handle for connecting the handle to a source of forced air;and coupling means formed on the other end of said handle and the openend of said curler for releasably attaching the curler to the handle,said coupling means including a magnet and an element attracted by themagnet, said coupling means being entirely disposed within and spacedfrom both ends of one of said members including said curler member andsaid handle member when said curler is attached to said handle, andmechanical means for preventing inadvertent separation of said magnetand said element.

4. In a hair curling and drying apparatus, a hollow curler having aperforated surface adapted to have hair wound thereon, said curlerhaving a tubular end portion of circular cross-section with an openingtherein, a tubular handle adapted to be held by the user during the curldrying operation, air inlet means formed on said handle adapted to beconnected to an air delivery hose, an air outlet formed in one end ofsaid handle, a permanent magnet supported within said handle slightlyspaced from the outlet end, means attracted by said magnet mounted onsaid curler tubular end portion adjacent the opening therein forcoupling said curler to said handle, the outer surface of said curlertubular end portion having a slightly converging taper towards the end,the inner wall of said handle adjacent said outlet having a slightlydiverging taper toward the outlet, said handle inner wall being adaptedto loosely receive said curler outer wall portion to prevent transversemovement of said curler with respect to said handle, said inner wall ofsaid handle enclosing said magnet and said magnetically attracted meanswhen said curler is coupled to said handle.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said curler end portionincludes a first external surface of a predetermined axial depthextending from the open end of said curler toward the perforatedsurface, and a second external surface of a greater circumference thansaid first external surface and of a predetermined axial depth eX-tending between the first external surface and the perforated surface;and said outlet end of said handle includes a first internal surface ofa greater axial depth than said second surface of said curler extendinginwardly from the end of said handle, and a second internal surfacesmaller in diameter than said first internal surface and extendingbetween said first internal surface and said magnet, said first andsecond external surfaces of said curler having a total axial depthsubstantially equal to the total axial depth of said first and secondinternal surfaces of said handle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,652,356 12/1927Hammerly 13233 3,001,530 9/1961 Julian 132-33 3,181,895 5/1965 Cator285-9 X 3,199,218 8/1965 Bean 132-9 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,219,855 12/1959France.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

L. W. TRAPP, Assistant Examiner.

3. IN A HAIR CURLING APPARATUS: A CURLER MEMBER HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLYTUBULAR CONSTRUCTION WITH ONE END OPEN AND THE OTHER END SUBSTANTIALLYCLOSED; SAID CURLER HAVING A PERFORATED SIDE SURFACE BETWEEN ITS ENDSADAPTED TO HAVE HAIR WOUND THEREON; A RIGID TUBULAR HANDLE MEMBER TO BEHELD BY THE USER DURING A HAIR CURLING OPERATION; MEANS FORMED ON ONEEND OF SAID HANDLE FOR CONNECTING THE HANDLE TO A SOURCE OF FORCED AIR;AND COUPLING MEANS FORMED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID HANDLE AND THE OPENEND OF SAID CURLER FOR RELEASABLY ATTACHING THE CURLER TO THE HANDLE,